He's Not Your Kind
by FanfictionVillainess
Summary: The intriguing, twisting, turning tale of how a pureblood girl fell for a mudblood boy and shook up the most Noble and Ancient House of Black. Tedromeda. Slight Bellamort. Timeline compliant. Two-shot.


_**This is my first fanfiction since 2011. Thanks to my beta, **electric gurrl_**, for her help.**

From the moment he saw her, he knew he was in love with her.

She had always been noticed by people – her reputation preceded her everywhere she went. Andromeda Black wore her skirts short, her blouse unbuttoned to the point where the seam caressed her breasts and ruby lipstick. She was a member of the group of the most popular Slytherins, a liar, a cheat and a delinquent. Her sister was someone whom Hogwarts could never forget – everyone _hated _her, but everyone wanted to _be _her, and she made a point of tormenting mudbloods who crossed her path.

He was quiet, mousy, charming in his friend group, but never in a spot of trouble. Ted had always preferred the girl-next-door type and never imagined having pointless sex with people he didn't care about. He never touched drugs, despite it being 1971 and being seventeen. He always obeyed his parents, always did what he was told. And he was a _mudblood_.

The point of the spiel is – she was absolutely wrong for Ted Tonks in every way imaginable.

But, for some reason, when he saw her in the Astronomy Tower during class, her brunette hair glistening in the light of moonbeams, he realized that he loved her. He knew nothing about her, but he _loved _her and nothing would change that.

Andromeda never noticed Ted Tonks.

He didn't ever matter to her much. Nobody mattered to her who couldn't impress her or piss off her parents. She was dating a twenty-seven year old pureblood man, Wesley Selwyn, whom she was bordering on loving, and sleeping with three other Slytherin legends. And, most importantly, this was the last year standing between her and freedom, and she wasn't letting any _boy _get in the way.

She planned on moving somewhere warm, marrying an old rich man and having a string of exciting but unsatisfying lovers. Somehow, she would get away from pureblood mania and the madness that plagued her family. Somehow, she would avoid being her sister – sobbing the night before her wedding because she was madly in love with, and being fucked by, another man.

But, their paths crossed at one instant that changed everything forever. And, at that moment, it seemed that nothing else mattered anymore.

She was sitting, stressed, declaring that she was never going to understand Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was a close friend of hers. She always was there when Andromeda was livid with her friends, or felt so painfully alone that she couldn't bear it. Minerva McGonagall taught Andromeda how to stand up for herself too – which was the most valuable lesson she ever learned in her life.

Ted Tonks was packing his leather messenger bag two seats behind her as she complained to her favorite professor. He decided that this was his moment – this was when he would take his chance with the girl he had been falling for.

"I could help you study," Ted said as confidently as he could.

Andromeda's head snapped back, her dark eyes centering on his. She looked hesitant, like a wild animal carefully approaching a human. He feebly smiled at her.

Professor McGonagall interjected, "I think that's a wonderful idea."

Ted's smile widened.

"I-I guess you can help me," Andromeda said, and Ted realized that it was the first time she had ever spoken directly to him.

And so, he agreed to tutor her.

Andromeda was hesitant about this whole Ted Tonks thing. She didn't even know his name until Professor McGonagall set them up. But Andromeda trusted her professor, and, so, she decided to give him a chance.

It was early December and they were set to meet on Saturdays by the lake. She arranged the meeting so her "friends" wouldn't know that she was getting _tutored _by a _Ravenclaw _that they would consider a _loser_.

Ted remembers very clearly the date he first knew anything about Andromeda more than basic facts. It was December 15th, 1971. They were sitting under a tree by the lake, holding their Transfiguration homework. She looked awful, brokenhearted almost. Andromeda was always so strong, and he never imagined her to look like that.

"Are you alright?" he managed to ask and she looked at him like he was crazy for a moment.

She wrestled with her lips, obviously wanting to tell him, but not opening up.

"Do you think I'm a slut?" she asked and Ted was stunned. He never imagined he would ever be asked that question.

"No, no I don't," he replied earnestly and she frowned.

"Be honest with me," she said sharply, her tone ferocious.

"I really don't think that. I could never think that about you," Ted said genuinely, looking straight into her eyes. He rarely dared to do that, for fear she would catch the look of love and admiration in his.

Andromeda faltered. She had never been told that before. No one had ever honestly considered her an honest woman. Clearly, Ted Tonks did. This nobody Ravenclaw who wasn't very high on her to-fuck list. She looked at him with new eyes.

"Thank you," Andromeda said, plucking a blade of grass.

"For what? My honest opinion?" Ted smiled at her.

He had such a casual smile, like he really meant it. Andromeda had only seen fake smiles for her entire life. _I'm fine_, her family and friends would lie. _He's never done that before_, mother would lie. _I have work late_, father would lie. _I would never choose him over any of you_, Bellatrix would lie. She grew used to the smiles that accompanied those lies, not the kind of grin Ted had.

A week later, she and Ted went to Hogsmeade together. It wasn't a date. Andromeda's idea of a date was a onetime expensive occurrence that preceded sex. Ted never had the guts to ask her on a date, and knew very well that he probably would never have one.

They sat at the Three Broomsticks, sipping coffee. He made her laugh, his innocence, his charm, his non-sick sense of humor. She made him smile, the true person she was under the smoke and mirrors of her reputation.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend, Ted?" Andromeda asked, smirking at him.

He didn't take it as a move on him. Her intentions were genuinely friendly, and nothing more.

"No," he admitted, blushing.

"Who was your first kiss?" Andromeda asked, her smirk growing. "If you've _had _one."

"I was ten. It was a girl named Loretta Galloway. It was an innocent thing. We were friends," Ted said, trying to hide his embarrassment. "What about you?"

Andromeda hesitated. She never told anyone the _truth _before. The story of her first kiss had been fabricated for so long she could barely remember the truth. But it came out in the back of her mind from time to time. No one had ever deserved Andromeda's honesty before. At least, until Ted.

"I was eleven," she says softly as a look of concern crossed his face. "He-he was a colleague of my father's."

Ted didn't know what to say. He had never heard something like that before in his sheltered life. Andromeda said it so plainly, but the emotion was clear in her beautiful eyes. _I'm sorry _sounded wrong, and ignoring it was wrong too.

"It's really okay. I'm over it." Andromeda dismissed it, but her voice reflected a wounded soul.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Ted asked, hoping it wasn't too sensitive.

Andromeda smiled. It made him feel a hell of a lot better.

"Yeah. His name is Wesley Selwyn. I don't love him or anything, but he makes me really happy. We see other people during the school year; don't think I'm a cheater. Though, I suppose I am. He works for the Ministry," Andromeda said, her voice content.

"I'm happy for you," Ted said honestly. He was happy that she was happy, even if he would never have her.

"Thanks. You're a good guy," Andromeda replied, sipping from her mug.

"I try."

Over Christmas break, Andromeda returned to her miserable family holidays. They all gathered in one house and pretended to love each other. It was an awful affair every year. Bellatrix and her sham of a marriage, Narcissa and her attempts to make it a cheery holiday, Sirius and his screaming and fighting, Regulus and his owl eyes at Bellatrix whenever she mentioned the Death Eaters or the Dark Lord – which happened at an incredible frequency.

Ted went back to his parents and grandparents, a family that tried to ignore magic. They loved him, but they never truly understood him. He couldn't explain it.

On New Year's Eve, Andromeda invited Ted to go to Diagon Alley for the party there. She usually went to wild purebloods only parties with drugs and drinks and sex and madness, but she decided to go with him.

They walked together through the snowy streets.

"What's your family like?" Andromeda asked. "I've never asked you about that, have I? I guess I try to avoid talking about _family_."

"Well, they're all muggles." It was the first time he admitted it to her, and she had as much of a reaction as he expected. Her eyes widened, she gasped, she gawked, and she stared.

"You're a mudblood?" she asked callously, sounding almost _frightened_.

"Yeah. I-I didn't think it mattered." He could feel his heart palpitating.

"I have to go." And she was gone, disappearing into swirls of snowflakes.

He should have guessed it couldn't last. Everything wrong about her was right except for that. In her family, even touching a mudblood is punishable by pain or death. He was stupid to think that she would stick around after he told her. Maybe it was worth it. It probably wasn't.

Andromeda couldn't believe what he said. Sure, she hated pureblood mania. Yeah, she didn't think that the wizarding race needed to be purified, but she was _scared_. Andromeda never was _scared_. She had been face to face with death, torture, horrible, horrible sights and she never felt the slightest tinge of fear. But her best friend – her _only _friend – turned out to be a _mudblood_.

Ted wandered the streets of Diagon Alley, window-shopping and watching the fireworks. He counted twelve couples snogging, and an unimaginable amount of people holding hands. It was impossible not to be jealous of them.

Andromeda found herself in Knockturne Alley. Somehow, she always ended up where she belonged: amongst her own kind. She saw on the doorstep of a shady pub, watching a brawl going on through the door. Every fiber of her body wanted to take off her coat, stumble into the bar and screw some random guy she just met.

But, oddly enough, she realized something. The only person who ever treated her like she was _worth _something was not one of the men she had slept with, or her loveless parents, or Bellatrix – who _tried _to care, but couldn't manage. It was Ted Tonks, a mudblood.

She ditched the bar and wandered the streets looking for him. He probably went home. Andromeda couldn't bear to imagine losing him forever. The snow blinded her almost as much as her uncontrollable tears.

Then she saw him. He was sitting on a bench, drinking hot chocolate. She ran to him and his eyes lit up like he was face to face with the most wonderful thing he had ever seen. And she returned the feeling.

"I know you know about Wesley and I, and I'm always going to be with him, but… but… I'm sorry Ted." She seizes his hand, pulled him to her and kissed him on the lips.

That moment was the sole greatest of Ted's life. But, like all else, it ended.

Andromeda returned home feeling content; Ted went home on cloud nine.

Two days before returning to school, Andromeda sat in Wesley's apartment, wearing only his business blazer and her undergarments. She felt lightheaded as she ate Merlin themed children's cereal. She picked out the marshmallows and left the rest soggy and alone.

Wesley was getting ready for work at the Ministry, sipping coffee as he did. Andromeda watched him, hungry for him constantly.

"Wesley," Andromeda said, setting down her cereal on the table. "I want to marry somebody I love."

He finished tying his tie and said, "Me too."

Andromeda thought about it for a moment as he kissed her cheek and walked out the door. She didn't just want to marry somebody she loved – she wanted to marry somebody who _listened _to her. There were very few people who did.

When Ted came back to school, he was swept up by the seventh year fever. He was mere months from the rest of his life. Andromeda was excited too, but afraid as well. She didn't know what she was going to do. School was an excuse to live without purpose, but now she had to find herself and a reason to… to… well, she didn't even know _that_.

Andromeda and Ted spent an increasing amount of time together in January and February. They would go for walks, and count the evening stars, and talk, and laugh, and go to Hogsmeade, and listen to each other, and _sometimes _manage to study.

Ted hadn't forgotten the kiss, hadn't forgotten the moment he fell for her. Every day he wanted more and more to ask her out, make a move, but he knew it was stupid. He should just be happy she was happy and leave it at that. It wasn't like they could _be together _anyway.

Easter Holidays came quickly. They went home, vowing to see each other often.

Ted wrote exactly thirty love letters to Andromeda Black in four days. He did not send a single one. In the end, he sent a letter that said.

_Hey. Thinking of you. Hope the family isn't killing you – literally. Sincerely, Ted_.

It certainly didn't have the same ring to it as the rest, but at least he hid his feelings.

On the worst night of her life, Andromeda sat at the foot of her sister's bed, stroking her foot. Bellatrix was crying silently, an action unusual for her. Bellatrix is the one who taught Andromeda never to cry. It's shameful. But that night she had every right to.

The Dark Lord came bursting into the kitchen, clutching Bellatrix by her hair. Bellatrix never came back home – and it would seem that he should take her to she and her husband's home. She had clearly done something horribly wrong — something worth killing over. Instead, he planned to murder Andromeda in her place: a fate worse than death. Andromeda ran, against all better judgment. She grabbed her broomstick, threw open the window and hid under the bed. Her sister was raped on it only minutes later.

Happy Easter Holidays. Home in time for murder and rape.

"Andy," Bellatrix whispers, her voice abrupt and unwelcome in the silent night. "I swear he's never done that before."

"No, you swear that you think you deserve it. And you think that because you love him he can do whatever he wants to you," Andromeda breathed, trying to hide her loathing.

"Why do we always pick people who treat us like we're worthless?" Bellatrix whispered, admitting her faults for once.

"I don't know, Bella. I don't know."

"I'm sorry." Her apologies were rare. "I'm really sorry."

She got up, shaking. And, with that, she was gone.

Andromeda called Wesley on the fireplace to tell him about it. He brushed her off. They weren't stoned and they weren't in bed, so why should he care that she had a problem?

She disapparated, arriving in front of Ted's house. Andromeda hoped she had the right place. She knocked on the door, praying she hadn't stumbled onto some random muggle's doorstep.

An older, soft looking woman answered the door. She had Ted's light eyes and fair hair.

"Hi. Is Ted here?" Andromeda asked, a lump in her throat.

"Yes." The woman smiled. "Ted! There's a girl here for you!"

The woman stepped aside and allowed Andromeda in. His house was so different. They obviously didn't have much money, or much family history. It was nice inside, though. She liked the warmth that radiated from the place, as if it had been _lived in _instead of _put up for show_.

Ted came bounding into view, his face contorting into a look of giddiness when he saw her. Nobody ever looked at Andromeda like that but him. Most people stared at her with lust, or fear or disgust. She was toxic or sexually appealing, nothing else.

"Can I talk to you?" Andromeda asked, stepping towards him. "Alone?"

He nodded, taking her hand and guiding her into his bedroom. It was funny, unlike any other rooms she had seen. It had lots of muggle posters, and figurines and books. It was themed dark blue, like the generic paintjob a mother would give a son.

Andromeda sat down on the bed, staring at her shaking hands. She told him about what happened and he stared at her in horror.

Ted couldn't comprehend what had happened at her home. He had spent years hearing about the Death Eaters and You-Know-Who and the fear and terror, and that you could get killed in an instant. But _that_. He knew that Bellatrix was You-Know-Who's mistress of sorts, and that Andromeda had met him before, but nothing like that.

He could only hug her.

"Ted," Andromeda asked softly, gently pushing him away, "why do we always pick people who treat us like we're worthless?"

Ted hesitated for a moment, thinking about it. He thought about all of the guys he had watched the girl he loved sleep with, wondered why he couldn't ask her out. He thought about everyone and everything that had ever suffered because of love. Of himself.

"We accept the love we think we deserve," he said quietly, hoping he was right.

Andromeda cocked her head to the side. She finally nodded.

"I love you, Ted," she said.

"Not the way I love you," he replied as bravely as he could.

Her angled eyebrows knitted together and her thin lips pouted out in thought.

"Why didn't you ever ask me out?" she inquired, stabbing him in the chest with her words. "I always wondered if you would."

"I'm just… I'm just happy that you're happy," Ted said and Andromeda shook her head. She suddenly was angry.

"You can't just put other people before you and call it _love_. I don't want somebody to _fancy_ me. I want somebody to _know _me for _me_." Andromeda couldn't control herself. It was what she felt, and she had to say it.

Ted looked straight into her eyes. It was time.

"I know you. I know you." He took her hands, clasping them tightly in his. "I know you and I _love _you and I will tell you that I _love _you every day for the rest of my life. You deserve somebody who does that. You're not _worthless_. You're beautiful and wonderful and clever and brilliant and _brave _and _bold _and incredibly perfect. Or maybe incredibly imperfect. And that's why I love you. You're all I care about anymore."

Tears started to pour from Andromeda's eyes. She couldn't stop herself, nor could she keep from pulling him into her arms. They held onto each other for the longest time, never wanting to part.

At that moment, both of their lives, intertwined, were perfect.

All was well.

After Easter Holidays, Andromeda and Ted returned to their usual schedule. They had slept with each other that night, connected eternally in the Universe. However, they didn't become a couple, didn't vow to remain together forever. Ted was wounded by it, he had to admit. He imagined that the night they had would prove that she loved him back – the emotions, the promises. Andromeda did think that she may have romantic feelings for Ted – the only person who had ever truly respected her.

The secret Andromeda had was that she would be with him if she wasn't certain she would hurt him. Unintentionally, she had hurt him anyway; he blamed himself for her reluctance to commit.

Ted wrote thousands of letters and thought about what he would say to her if he had the courage. He assumed that Andromeda would be impressed by bravery, but he wasn't brave. He never had been. She was bold and brash simply because she could be. He couldn't do that.

"What are the four branches of Transfiguration?" Ted asked as Andromeda tapped her quill on her leviathan textbook. Ted sat patiently, as always.

"Transformation, Vanishment, Conjuration and Untransfiguration," she answered hopefully, and Ted nodded. She scrawled it down in her notebook.

Ted flipped through a few pages and said, "While human Transfiguration can presumably be performed by any wizard who's skilled enough, on themselves as well as on others, a _blank _is born with the ability to make such changes to their own bodies with little to no effort, and without the use of wand."

Andromeda stared at him with a vacant expression.

"Well, I haven't memorized _Advanced Transfiguration_, Ted," she said fiercely, pouting out her lips.

"A metamorphagus," Ted answered and, reluctantly, she wrote it down.

"It's not like I'm ever going to run into one of those." Andromeda sniffed in haughtily.

Ted smiled at her and she grinned back, but their expressions faded quickly. Things weren't the same after Easter Holidays.

"I know why you don't want to be with me," Ted said as bravely as he could. Andromeda's eyes flashed. "It's because I'm ordinary."

Andromeda's hand flew out and seized his. He jumped, startled at her strong emotion.

"You're not _ordinary_. There is _nothing _worse than being ordinary and you are not such thing." She lunged forward and kissed him on the lips. He tried not to fall into it, but there was no other choice but to love her more and more every day.

"Ted," Andromeda said, staring straight into his eyes, "I want to be with you."

And so they were.

When Andromeda returned home for summer, something was amiss. It seemed as if everyone was wary of her, or holding something back that they longed to say. Finally, her mother took her into the parlor, clutching Andromeda's arm tenaciously.

"Wesley Selwyn is coming over tonight. He will be proposing marriage," she said and Andromeda choked. _No, no, no_.

Wesley Selwyn came, dressed in a fancy suit and looking his sharpest. He cleared his throat and cracked his knuckles. Got down on one knee and proposed.

And Andromeda said no. Absolutely not. Her family was mortified, but Wesley Selwyn decided he would take matters into his own hands.

Andromeda ran to Ted that night and they made love. Wesley Selwyn examined Andromeda's things, looking for any type of blackmail. After unjinxing a drawer, he uncovered her secret: she was seeing a mudblood. This, he decided must be brought to the attention of Bellatrix Lestrange immediately.

She was livid. Tossed unforgivable curses around and refused to believe him. But she calmed in the end, and thanked him.

That summer, as Andromeda slunk home from sleeping with Ted, she was seized by her mother in a similar way to before Wesley Selwyn proposed.

"Is it true?" her mother demanded, focused intently on her daughter's every expression.

"Is _what _true?" Andromeda spat, prying her mother's hands off of her arms.

"Are you seeing a mudblood?" Druella hissed, giving Andromeda a look that could kill.

"Yes. Yes I am," Andromeda snapped, smirking. About time they knew the truth. "I love him and we're going to be together forever."

"Get out of the house and never come back, or wish you've never been born as much as I do," she said ferociously. "Pack your bags and get the fuck off of this property, whore."

Andromeda smiled at her, nodding, and walked up the endless stairs. She reached her bedroom, hoping she wouldn't regret this decision. Once she pushed open the door, she realized that she might.

Bellatrix was sitting on the bed, tapping her fingernails on the bedside table. _Tap, tap, tap_. Andromeda felt a chill surging through her veins.

"Hello, Bella," Andromeda said smoothly, inhaling sharply.

"Turn back now. You still have a chance to stop," Bellatrix said, ceasing her tapping.

"No." There was hesitation in Andromeda's voice.

"Do you really love a _mudblood _more than me?" Oh, hell. That was how she was playing.

"No," Andromeda replied sharply, waving her wand and sending a suitcase crashing onto the floor.

"Is that all you have to say?" Bellatrix's hand twitched towards her wand.

"Yes." Andromeda started packing the clothes with a single spell.

Bellatrix bit down on her lip and Andromeda tried not to look. She had done a lot of things to piss off her sister, and didn't regret a second of it. But this was the worst of all. She almost felt like turning around, stopping the packing and never seeing Ted again.

"I wouldn't do this to you," Bellatrix said coldly, her fingers resting on her wand.

"You already have." Andromeda suddenly felt an onslaught of emotion. "You already chose what's – _who's _– important in your life. I'm not on that list. And I'm sick of keeping you on mine. You were right, Bella. We _do _pick people that treat us like we're worthless. And I certainly picked you a lot of times. But I finally found someone who _doesn't _treat me like I'm worthless. I deserve a lot more love than I thought I did before."

She moved on to books, trinkets, albums and items. Bellatrix looked stunned. She stood up, her fingers white on her wand. Andromeda tightened her grip on hers.

"I _love _you," Bellatrix said sharply.

"No you don't. You don't know _how_ to love, Bellatrix," Andromeda said and a plume of smoke issued from her sister's wand. "You're very bad at loving. And I forgive you—"

"There is nothing to _forgive_, you ungrateful whore!" Bellatrix shrieked, her temper flaring at the drop of a hat. "Don't talk to me like that!"

Andromeda closed the top of the full suitcase with her foot. It clicked violently, echoing through the room.

Bellatrix shot a curse at Andromeda and she blocked it with a fast-thinking charm.

"I do love you, Bella," Andromeda said, watching her sister struggle with rage, passion and confusion. And _pain_. Pain most of all. "But I have to make this decision now. And I'm not choosing you. At least I'm choosing a man who _loves _me and isn't just playing me like your master."

As the air around her turned emerald, she leapt to the side, dodging a killing curse. Andromeda sat on the floor, clutching her suitcase, her heart palpitating. She didn't think that Bellatrix would do something like that. Bella had a look of disgust on her face, and Andromeda couldn't tell if it was at Andromeda or herself.

Andromeda stared at Bellatrix for a moment, knowing she was too stunned to fight.

"Bye."

"Not bye." Bellatrix grabbed her and did not let go. Andromeda considered disapparating but decided against it. She took a deep breath and sunk into Bellatrix's arms. There was no escaping her fate.

She was altogether doomed.

And so was Ted.

* * *

_**So that's the end of Part 1. This is a two-shot so expect the second part soon.**_


End file.
